


our coming of age has come and gone

by nosfelixculpa



Category: Storm Hawks (Cartoon)
Genre: Almost Kiss, But also, Canon Compliant, Dancing, F/M, Family, Fluff, Implied Feelings, Post canon, its pipers bday, piper pov mainly but im Shit so it switches to like ALL sometimes, set in the farside, stork at any time: i cant wait to die, the gangs all here pt 2, there are fun lil easter egg refs to ep 33 nd 28 if that interests anyone, theyre such a wild family, this was not meant to be this long what the FUCK, uuuh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:53:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25614643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nosfelixculpa/pseuds/nosfelixculpa
Summary: “you’re too good at giving gifts,” she noted, punching him lightly on the arm.“so?”“so we have to try twice as hard to get you something just as good.”“nah,” aerrow denied, attention shifting to survey the horizon contently. “i don’t need anything.”“i can think of a few things,” piper mused innocently, before grinning. “culinary skills. common sense.”--------a few months after they enter the farside, piper has her 17th birthday
Relationships: + whole squadron friendship, Aerrow/Piper (Storm Hawks)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 4





	our coming of age has come and gone

Piper rubbed her eyes tiredly, standing up to stretch loudly, only relaxing when she felt a satisfying click. Casting a disdainful glance back at her desk, she blew a strand of hair out of her face in exasperation. She needed a break.

Still struggling to shake out the fog in her brain that often came with spending hours hunched over experiments, unmoving, she barely had time to register that the bridge was oddly dark as she stepped in - before the lights flickered on abruptly, and she was showered in rainbow confetti and discordant cheering.

As her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, Piper blinked, surveying the room to see an old, tattered birthday banner hanging off the wall lopsidedly, the number seven clumsily painted over an equally messy six.

In the centre, the rest of the team were stood clustered around the table expectantly, complete with party hats and blowers. Stifling a laugh, Piper watched as Finn nudged Stork eagerly, gleeful grin plastered on his face as the merb finally blew the party horn hanging from his mouth, face deadpan as the sound echoed through the bridge.

“Is it that time already?” Piper thought aloud, mentally counting the days and months, just to be sure.

“I know,” Finn answered, a wistful note in his voice as he leant back against the table, feigning wiping a tear from his eye. “They grow up so fast.”

“Can’t wait ‘til it’s your turn,” Piper countered with a raised eyebrow, earning herself a tongue poked out in her direction, only helping put her point across.

Junko could be heard chuckling at the pair fondly, before he was suddenly directly in front of the mage, practically vibrating with excitement as he held something awkwardly behind his back.

“Open mine first,” the wallop pleaded needlessly, not giving any time to answer before he had thrust the present into her hands.

Now held in Piper’s hands was a large, navy blue bear whose limbs were stitched together haphazardly, while an orange headband sat across its head; holding a coloured blob in one paw which (Piper guessed) was meant to be a crystal of some kind.

“Thanks, Junko,” Piper acknowledged sincerely, as she gave the plush toy an experimental squeeze.

“I think I’ll call her…” she paused for a moment, scrutinising the bear’s face intently. “Peregrine.”

“After your ditzy princess twin?” Finn remarked dubiously, before his expression turned to one of mischief. “Although, it probably would be more fun to hang out with than you too.”

Piper ignored that last comment, instead turning to Junko, placing a hand on his arm.

“I love her, Junko,” Piper reiterated once more, glad to see his ears prick up as he fiddled with his fingers shyly. “She can be my mascot.”

“You may love her,” Finn started dramatically, sliding up next to Junko, one hand behind his back readily. “But I’ve got something even better.”

With a flourish he revealed his hidden hand and its contents, which was a poorly bound together stack of papers, filled with scribbled writing and pencil illustrations.

“I give you, my _debut novel_.”

Piper took it, equal halves skeptical and curious as she scanned the front page illustration, which had Finn in the forefront with his crossbow, looking heroic and dashing whilst the others cowered behind him in awe.

Flipping through, the mage did her best to keep her expression neutral, snorting at the second to last page which depicted Finn punching a crudely drawn Cyclonis with one enlarged fist, and an unflattering Dark Ace with the other.

“I don’t remember this part,” Piper commented wryly, pointing the page in question out to Finn who seemed unfazed.

“So maybe I used a _little_ artistic license,” Finn shrugged flippantly, before crossing his arms and fixing Piper with a superior look. “But can you prove that’s _not_ what happened?”

“Thanks, Finn,”was the only reply Piper honoured him with, glancing between the present and him with amusement. “I’ll treasure it.”

“Naturally,” Finn nodded proudly, either not noticing or choosing to ignore the sarcasm in her voice before shooting her a pair of finger guns, and high-fiving Junko triumphantly.

Too busy rolling her eyes, she almost jumped out of her skin when Stork scuttled over, an ominously coloured and bound book clasped to his chest.

“Whenever you’re finished with…that,” Stork muttered, glancing down at Finn’s ‘novel’ with disinterest, before his expression darkened creepily into a sinister grin. “I’ve got something _worse_.”

 _“Atmos’ Deadliest Crystals And Where To Find Them, (But Not How To Fight Them),”_ Piper read aloud nervously, as she took the book from Stork’s hands gingerly, as if it too might be dangerous.

“Uh, thanks?” she forced out, still a little unsettled. Of course, the book could be helpful, but Piper really, _really_ hoped it never was.

“No, no,” Stork waved her off dismissively, before his mouth curved into an eerie smirk once more. “Thank me later.”

Blinking at the merb as he slunk back toward the helm of the ship, Piper had never been so relieved to feel a familiar small tug at her leg, accompanied by a quiet chirp. She looked down to see Radarr sat patiently, holding up a singular photograph happily.

“Thanks, Radarr,” Piper welcomed as she took the gift, giving the creature a gentle pat on the head.

She was unable to stop an endeared laugh from escaping her as she fully took in the contents of the picture: clearly taken unawares, it showed Piper and Finn physically fighting, with Finn being trapped in a headlock whilst Junko and Aerrow struggled to seperate them, getting caught up in the violence themselves. Sat at the table was Stork, looking directly at the camera soullessly.

Given the animal’s small height, the picture was taken at a comically low angle, and was slightly blurry, as though the ship had listed to the side at entirely the wrong time.

Piper opened her mouth to show the others, but was cut off by Junko’s slightly uneasy question.

“Uh, does anyone else smell smoke?”

“Ah, finally,” Stork proclaimed, limbs going slack as though a lifetime of reprieve had just washed over him.

“That’ll be the unfamiliar atmosphere turning toxic and seeping into the ship, leading us all to a slow and excruciating death.”

His vision was met with complete, horrified silence, until Aerrow popped his head around the kitchen door.

“Or,” the redhead began with an awkward laugh, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.“Someone forgot to keep an eye on the oven.”

“Do you guys need a hand in there?” Piper asked, eyeing the trio teasingly as Finn and Junko moved to join Aerrow; completely blocking her one entry point to the kitchen.

“No, no, Finn will fix this,” the blond assured, with what Piper felt was a lot of false confidence. “You just go wait outside.”

“I didn’t know you could cook,” Piper continued suspiciously, folding her arms to side-eye him with interest. In all the time she had known him, not once had Finn appeared to have any culinary knowledge - the boy struggled to get all his milk and cereal into the bowl rather than on the floor.

“Piper, please,” Finn sighed, addressing her in that holier-than-thou way he was so fond of, blinking at her slowly. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

“Now, get out there,” he ordered again, gesturing to the outer deck, before pulling Junko towards him with one hand, and patting Aerrow on the shoulder with the other.

“Aerrow, buddy. Go keep her busy.”

As she stepped out onto the deck, Piper shivered involuntarily - despite having been here for a few months now, her body couldn’t seem to adjust to the naturally colder climate of _this_ side of Atmos.

Leaning against the window, she could almost kid herself that the soft light and subtle warmth of the bridge was seeping through the window, fading the goosebumps visible on her arms.

“Happy birthday.”

Concentrating so hard on the weather, Piper hadn’t heard him come out, and blinked as a small rectangle box was held out to her silently.

Having half expected the usual thoughtful, homemade gift, she took it carefully, removing the lid and moving aside the protective paper lining to reveal a long, silver chain made out of a fine metal that seemed to glow when the moonlight bounced off its surface.

“It’s made of fastrian metal,” Aerrow explained helpfully, ticking off points with his fingers as he continued. “Lightweight, basically indestructable, and meant to bring good luck.”

“I thought you could use it for your crystal,” he went on, nodding at the pale blue crystal that hung around her neck from a cloth choker. “Y’know, keep it safe. I know it means a lot to you.”

“Yeah,” Piper hummed, hand going up instinctively to finger at the crystal in question. She didn’t know much about it, what it had been used for before, what it did - if it did anything at all. But to this day she vividly remembered a woman fastening it around her neck in a hurry, telling her it would keep her safe. That was enough for her.

“This is really beautiful,” she smiled, looking down at the chain held delicately between her fingers, before glancing up at Aerrow coyly. “Thanks.”

“There is just _one_ problem,” she started, averting her gaze with feigned disappointment before meeting his eyes again playfully.

“And what’s that?” Aerrow asked curiously, as he leant a shoulder against the window, eyebrows raising as he caught on to her game.

“You’re too good at giving gifts,” she noted, punching him lightly on the arm.

“So?”

“So we have to try twice as hard to get you something just as good.”

“Nah,” Aerrow denied, attention shifting to survey the horizon contently. “I don’t need anything.”

“I can think of a few things,” Piper mused innocently, before grinning. “Culinary skills. Common sense.”

“Low blow,” the sky knight sighed, faking a wince before smiling at her good-naturedly.

They fell silent for a few moments, enjoying the fresh night air, listening to the occasional murmur of activity going on inside.

“I can’t believe I forgot my birthday,” Piper sighed, the absurdity of it only now hitting her. In the past, the thought of ever getting to seventeen years old seemed impossible, a far away dream that she would’ve been able to reach in another reality. One free of war and wonder and danger. Yet, here she was, one year older.

“Some stuff’s happened since the last one,” Aerrow added, easy-going and understated, as always. “I think you can be forgiven.”

Piper laughed, thinking back. They had been to hell and back since then, but within themselves, had they really changed that much?

“Do you remember last year?”

“At the Sky Knight Summit?” Aerrow verified, cringing more and more visibly with each word. “Where Finn and Junko ate the cake, again? How could I forget.”

“I also remember learning you’re not a bad dancer that day too,” Piper said casually, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, biting back a smile as she saw him cringe.

“I think you’re just being nice.”

Piper shook her head at him, before bending down to place her present down on the floor by her feet, pushing off the window and moving to the middle of the deck, hand outstretched in Aerrow’s direction invitingly. Inside, due to it being a special day, Finn had (begrudgingly) allowed a Piper-only selection of music, which filtered out onto the quiet deck now, some soft, classical composition.

“Piper, I don-”

“Come on,” Piper encouraged, tilting her head at him fondly as he hesitated awkwardly, rubbing at the back of his neck again.

“Think of it as a birthday privilege?” she tried once more, barely able to contain her delight as he gave in with a sigh, reaching out to take her hand easily.

As fingers closed around hers gently, she was struck with the realisation that this was the first time in a long time, that they’d held hands because they wanted to; because they felt like it. Not because of a life or death situation, not to save each other.

Feeling mischevious, Piper pulled him towards her, giggling at his deer-in-the-headlights expression as they found themselves inches apart. As his hands moved to her waist, and hers moved to his shoulders, she found herself wondering if it had always felt like this with him.

When they were younger, she distinctly remembered cuddling close to both him and Finn on that tiny terra they called home, and not once had it seemed odd to her - she never got that racing heartbeat and nervous disposition that so many of her novels talked about.

That feeling wasn’t here now either, it just felt, pleasant - familiar.

As she moved to spin away from him, her hand sliding down to his chest, she noticed his heartbeat just as steady as always, same as hers. Wrapped up in her thoughts, she wasn’t quite ready for when he pulled her back towards him, falling rather than stepping there, face almost colliding with his shoulder.

“You okay?” was what she heard from just above her head, warm breath against her hair as two hands had her by the shoulders, stopping her short from a very inelegant face plant.

Now that was something her mountain of books didn’t explain - the feeling those words gave her. Not just those words, any words; but it was the way he said them that mattered. The way he looked at her before, during and after they came out of his mouth.

_You okay?_

_I trust you._

_It’s me. I’ll find a way._

_I believe in you._

_At least we’re going down together._

“Yeah,” Piper answered breathlessly, and she felt like the dancing wasn’t entirely to blame as she straightened up bashfully, looking up to see Aerrow looking gently amused, though his brow threatened to furrow in concern.

“I’m fine,” she elaborated, letting her hands remain where they still rested lightly against his chest, suddenly hyper aware of the loose grip he still had on her shoulders. “You just took me by surprise.”

“Sorry,” she heard rather than saw him murmur, her eyes darting from his eyes to his mouth, where an almost imperceptible smile still stood, then back again.

“Aerr-”

“Pip-”

Faltering as one interrupted the other, the pair laughed distractedly, looking anywhere but each other.

“You first,” Aerrow spoke again after a moment, still sounding uncharacteristically timid.

Piper silently cursed herself - she should’ve told him to go first. This was ridiculous, she thought, they were best friends, and were obviously thinking the same thing, weren’t they? So, she would just do it, she would just ask him, it would be easy-

“WoulditbeweirdifIkissedyou?” Piper blurted out in a rush with her eyes closed, exhaling loudly before she dared open them again, squinting at Aerrow through half closed eyes cautiously.

After a moment’s pause, where Aerrow resembled a still image, the redhead seemed to visibly deflate with relief, trademark goofy grin back in place.

“That’s close to what I was gonna say,” Aerrow nodded thoughtfully, casual teasing obvious in his voice despite his cheeks being a bright pink and getting darker.

Piper tried her best to glare at him, her face burning, but there was no real anger there. She knew she was a terrible flirt at the best of times, but she had thought she would’ve had a bit more luck with her _best friend._

“Well, would it?” she mumbled awkwardly, feeling like she had de-aged about five years as she scuffed her feet against the decking.

“Uh, no,” Aerrow answered equally as hesitantly, which was surprisingly comforting to her. “It would be good, actually.”

Piper giggled at that, worries forgotten as she remembered who this was. Slowly, she leaned up onto her toes, just slightly, just enough to feel Aerrow’s warm breath on her cheek. Their noses had barely brushed when they heard a low whistle from across the deck.

Stepping apart from each other awkwardly, they turned to the source of the noise, unsurprised to see Finn stood there with unfiltered, scheming delight in his eyes.

“Wow, okay,” the blond seemed to struggle, running a hand through his hair as he paused to collect his thoughts, of which there appeared to be many.

“I just came out to see if you guys wanted any cake, but you’re busy so I’ll just uh-” he turned on his heel pointing at the entrance of the deck exaggeratedly.

“I’ll save some for you guys,” he finished, winking at the pair before sauntering off, looking incredibly pleased with himself.

**Author's Note:**

> this was meant to b like 1k MAX idk why its more than that
> 
> anyway this came to me after i listened to taylor swift's new album so uuh enjoy
> 
> also sidenote bc i feel like some people will ask about how its her 17th birthday when shes 14 in the show but basically i hc that by the end of s2 theyre all around 16 
> 
> anyway goodbye come shout at me @massapeccatiblr if u want to


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